Ancient Rome had eleven major aqueducts, built between 312 B.C. (Aqua Apia) and 226 A.D. (Aqua Alexandria); the longest (A nio Novus) was 59 miles long. It has been calculated that in imperial times, when the city's population was well over a million, the distribution system was able to provide over one cubic meter of water per day for each inhabitant: more than we use nowadays. For most of their length the early aqueducts were simply channels bored through the rock, from the water intake in the...

Rise of the Roman Empire The legend about Rome's origins puts the founding of the city at around 735 B.C. It is said that a Vestal Virgin gave birth to twin boys, Romulus and Remus, and claimed that they were the sons of the god Mars. The Vestal Virgin was the sister of a king. The king believed that she was lying and imprisoned her. He put her two boys in a basket and threw it into the Tiber River. A she-wolf found the twins and raised them. The twins, Romulus and Remus, came back and killed th...

Plotinus was born in Upper Egypt, more specifically in Lycopolis in 204 CE. When he was twenty-eight he moved to Alexandria to study philosophy. While in Alexandria, he was tremendously influenced by Plato and Aristotle and therefore studied their works immensely. Subsequent to working under Ammonium for approximately ten years, he joined the Emperor Gordian's campaign against the Parthians (Persians) in 243 AD. He joined the campaign, partly because he was somewhat intrigued by the Persians' ph...

Rome began as a small city-state. It's army and way of running government remained the same as the small city grew to a huge empire. Somehow, this small-time system of management lasted for 600 years. It's obvious ill suited ness showed through though, when Rome's once strong rigid links began to jingle. When Rome began to crumble, its army went first. Besides causing civil unrest, with the people knowing their army was less than satisfactory, the loss of the army's comforting presence also caus...

The Roman Empire When the ancient Greeks were reaching the height of their glory, the power of Rome, to the west, was slowly rising. The Romans were best in warfare, engineering, and government. Rome rose to power gradually, with no set plan for world conquest. The Romans fought many wars and enslaved many people. By the time of Augustus, shortly before Christ, most of the known world was unified and at peace under Roman rule. The Kings of Early Rome The early Romans didn't keep any written reco...

"Was Rome a pleasant city to live in" Well, writers who wrote about it say that they didn't think so. This is based on survived writings. One big reason why life was not that good was the plan of the city. To many buildings were being built. Emperors were building too many impressive, marble temples. Then in the residential areas were the insula e. They are unplanned blocks of poorly built apartment buildings. These buildings were for the ordinary Roman. They were built very closely, and buildin...

"Or perhaps not only the seasons but everything else, social history included, moves in cycles. Not, however, that earlier times were better than ours in every way- our own epoch too has produced moral and intellectual achievements for our decedents to copy. And such honorable rivalry with the past is a fine thing". This quote taken form Tact is, referring to his quote, that not just in time, but by advancements things repeat. He states that he does not think the past was necessarily better, bec...